Special Needs Students Sat In Dangerously Hot Conditions On Queens School Buses, Report Claims
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A new report is slamming the alleged sweltering conditions on board school buses that transport special education students in Queens.
A former school employee at the Lifeline Center for Child Development claims temperatures inside the buses reached 104 degrees at times.
Buses have to be at least 15 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, according to the report.
The city agency that released the report says complaints were lost in the software system.
"None of them can properly track when someone calls in to say 'here I have a complaint' and follow it all the way through where a bus company is actually receiving a violation and because of that there are so many incidents where the bus companies don't get assessed a fine," Anastasia Coleman, special commissioner of investigation for the New York City school district said.
The city agency has made a list of recommendations and asks the Department of Education to respond within 30 days.
The DOE told CBS2 "we'll continue to make any improvements necessary to keep our students safe."
